A Broken Road
by DeathWingedWolf
Summary: Elric Shiro is the beloved babysitter and cousin to Ed and Al. He has decided to enter in the Elric brothers' journey in order to find the answers to his own questions. Slash. Eventual OMCXLing Slight OMCXGreed/Ling Ratings might go up!
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**Title**: A Broken Path

**Summary**: Elric Shiro is the beloved babysitter and cousin to Ed and Al. He has decided to enter in the Elric brothers' journey in order to find the answers to his own questions. Slash. Eventual OMCXLing Slight OMCXGreed/Ling

**Rating**: Teen, might go higher

**Warning**: Cursing. Violence. Yaoi. Don't like? Don't read!

**Disclaimer**: Fullmetal Alchemist is not mine. I do not make money off of this.

**AN**: After seeing the entire FMA Brotherhood episodes in just a few days, I just had to do this. That anime was just pure awesome. Shiro has been a character of mine for several years. I hope he's put to good use in this story! Also, I know how many people hate OC's in stories, like me, but this story is for my own amusement. I just had to write it down and what better to post it online where other people might enjoy it too!

I'd say my character wasn't a gary sue but after taking into account other people's views, I see that people have differing opinions. I'm trying to make my character _NOT_ be all mighty and smart and that's not what I'm planning on doing AT ALL. So please bear with me as I write this story!

Also, being an albino might already indicate on a Gary-sue might keep in mind that there is a whole race that's full of albinos in Fullmetal Alchemist called the Ishvalans.

Name:

Elric Shiro

Age:

17

Appearance:

He has white hair and dark red eyes, almost maroon in color, and is sometimes mistaken for an Ishvalan from a distance. He has tousled hair that is stylishly messy and comes to his neck. He's an albino with pale white skin. He's taller than Ed by a head and up to Al's chest. His body is lean and slightly on the thin side because he doesn't like to eat much.

Clothes:

He wears a plain white jacket over a tight black tank top under it. He wears tight dark blue jeans and most of the time refuses to wear shoes. He wears a black big beaded necklace that was his brother's that was passed down from his father.

History:

Coming from a Xingese background, Kuro, Shiro's older brother, had come to Amestris with his father after he had been proclaimed a traitor for trying to assassinate the emperor. Kuro's father met Trisha's older sister, whom then had Shiro. His father had forsaken his surname and had taken in the name Elric. The parents later died in an accident. When Kuro was 21, he became a State Alchemist and was proclaimed an alchemist prodigy. At age 24, he was killed in the Ishvalan War, leaving his younger brother home alone at a tender age of 17. When his body was sent home, per request, Shiro committed the taboo, the human transmutation, for his brother, whom he had been the most closest to. In exchange for viewing the Truth, his heart was taken. As his body fell as he died, his hand fell on top Kuro's body right where the heart was, transferring his heart into Shiro through the use of alchemy without the use of a transmutation circle. His brother's dead heart started to beat for Shiro…

Ever since the Elric brothers were young, Shiro came to be their babysitter because he was the son of Trisha's close sister. When Ed and Al were 6 and 5 respectively, Shiro did the human transmutation. There had been almost a year where he had been in seclusion since then. He came back, looking tired and seeking comfort in the Elric's household. When Ed and Al were 9 and 8, the Elric brothers committed the taboo..

Personality:

Shiro has a very laid back personality. He's lazy and likes the cold because it calms 'his' heart.

Pairing:

Eventual ShiroXLing Slight ShiroXGreed/Ling

-X-

11 years ago…

_Dear Journal,_

_My name is…_

In a dark room, with only a lit candle as the source of light, a white haired male could be seen writing in a notebook. His dark red eyes were narrowed at the almost blank piece of paper in front of him.

"Ahh... How do you start a journal again? Starting with 'Dear Journal,' what am I, five?" he muttered.

"Shiro!"

With a start at the unexpected shout, he accidentally spilled the cup of water conveniently placed close to his almost blank journal, spilling the water over the paper.

"Ah, shit!" The white haired male shouted, now known as Shiro. He blew out the candle, dousing his room into darkness. The door opened to reveal a short kid with golden hair and eyes. Upon seeing that the room was dark, he paused in the doorway, slightly apprehensive.

"Ano.. Shiro?" the kid whispered.

Shiro jumped out of the darkness and shouted, "BOOO-" _Smack. _Only for him to get smacked in the face with a teddy bear.

"…Ow"

"Ehh, Shiro! Your white hair makes it hard for you to sneak up on me!" The gold haired kid replied, smiling toothily.

Shiro wrinkled his nose, "Mahh Ed. How many times did I say for you to add '–chan' to my name? Jeez, the way you say my name, it feels like you're older than me. And you're only 5 years old, little guy."

Ed made a face and cried out, "Who're you calling short, you white booger monster?" Now it was Shiro to make a face.

_A booger isn't white, Ed._

Shiro ruffled Ed's golden hair, causing him to cry out angrily, before making a long face. "Rawr, Ed! Run away, the white haired monster is coming to eat you!"

Ed shouted in joy and ran down the hallway.

Shiro stopped his antics and closed the door to his room behind him. _Hm. I'll finish that another day._

He then gave chase to the little chibi running down the hallway.

-X-

_Fists knocked on the door, the sound reverberating throughout the household. The door opened to reveal two military officers in blue uniform. The casual face of the white haired teenager who had opened the door had turned into an apprehensive face at once. "Hello officers. How may I… help you?"_

_Putting on a sympathetic face, one of the officers started with, "You are Elric Shiro, yes?" With a nod from the white haired male, he continued, "Sorry to be the one to give you this news, but your brother, Elric Kuro, has fallen in battle. During the Ishvalan War, he…"_

_Further words were lost to the white haired teenager named Elric Shiro. He was now alone at the age of 17. He didn't know how long he was standing in the doorway with the two officers but they didn't seem inclined to stop. "My brother's body…" was the only thing he said._

"_Eh? Excuse me?"_

_With shadows covering his eyes, Shiro said in an unclear whisper, "Please… send me my brother's body. I… want to bury him here."_

_With that, he closed the door._

-X-

_In a large vacant room, Shiro, still 17, was working diligently in the middle of the room. Off to the side was a prone body dressed in casual clothes. However, this body didn't move._

"_Brother, with this, I can bring you back…!"_

_With a clap, Shiro placed his hands on top of an intricate alchemy circle. At once, blue lightning emitted from the circle._

_The look of concentration on the teenager changed into joy before changing once more into confusing. He was looking at the center of the circle, where all of a sudden a huge eye appeared. Something like black lightning struck Shiro in the middle of his chest, right above where the heart was before he sunk into a mass of darkness. _

_Shiro opened his eyes and had to close them once again, the white blinding his eyes. Once adjusted, he looked around the white room, could it be called a room, before his eyes focused on the huge door suspended in air behind him. "Wh-what is this?"_

"_Yo." Shiro swirled around and saw a white figure surrounded by a black mist. "Wh-who're you?"_

_"Haaah, I'm so glad you asked." With a big grin, it continued, "I am what you called the world. Or perhaps the universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps truth, or perhaps all, or perhaps one. And I am also you." When it pointed a finger towards Shiro, the door behind him opened to reveal a large eye in a mass of black. Shiro's continual confusion changed to fear when multiples of black hands reached out from the mass of black and started to pull him towards the door. "Welcome, you stupid fool, who doesn't know his own place. I will show you the truth!"_

_With that, the door closed._

_-0-_

Kuro… brother…

_The body of the white haired teenager slowly fell to the ground, next to the still sparkling transmutation circle. As he fell, Shiro's hand fell on top of his brother's chest. A flash of white, then, the room fell back into darkness._

_A heart started to beat. _

-X-

_A year later..._

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

_Seconds later, the door was opened by a woman wearing an apron. Her brown hair fell across one of her shoulders in a braid. When she saw who it was, she gasped in surprise._

"_Oh! Shiro-chan!"A moment later, the woman embraced the standing white teenager in front of her door. "Come in, come in! Honey, guess who's here!"_

_With a small smile sent the woman's way, Shiro entered the house and was immediately led to the kitchen, where a warm glass of milk was placed in front of him._

_A golden haired man soon entered the kitchen and with a pause, sat down next to the teenager. The woman sat next to the man._

_Exchanging a glance between the couple, they then turned their attention to Shiro who had not moved after sitting down. Their eyes moved toward the neck, where a newly acquired necklace lay. The big black beads that made up the necklace contrasted sharply to the teen's pale white skin. "Shiro-chan, we… we heard about Kuro-kun." She drifted off in order to see his reaction. She was about to continue when Shiro shifted._

"_Trisha… Hohenheim… I'm… I'm so sorry. Sorry I haven't been in contact. That I-"His next words were cut off when pearly tears fell down his face. He tried to continue. "I'm s-sorry." He didn't need to continue because Trisha had him in her embrace not a second later. _

_-0-_

"_Your necklace, it was your brother's, right?" Hohenheim asked. When Shiro nodded, he continued with his questions. "They sent your brother's body back?" Again, he nodded._

_Shiro looked at the ground, suddenly afraid of what Hohenheim might have found in his eyes. Eyes were the windows to the soul, after all. And his soul contained a secret, the secret of human transmutation. He had told no one, not even to the Elric's, whom he had considered a family of what he had done. He didn't want them to feel ashamed of him. He lost his brother, but he refused to lose them too._

_Hohenheim interrupted his musings when he stood up and looked around the room. It was the room that Shiro had regularly slept in whenever he came over to babysit for Ed and Al. He hadn't been over for nearly a year now. _

"_Shiro-chan, you're welcome to stay here anytime. You know that, right?" Without waiting for an answer, Hohenheim left the room. His room. _

_In the darkness, tears came unbidden down his face while his brother's heart started to beat for him…_

-X-

"_Shiro…"_

"_Yes, Kuro-niisan?"_

_A black haired teenager, no a man, stood at the doorway, dressed in a blue uniform. His hand came to ruffle the white hair of his little brother. _

"_Shiro-chan…" Kuro stooped down to his 14 year old brother height. He sighed, "Shiro-chan, be sure to look after yourself. I asked Trisha and Hohenheim to look after you too. Jeez, why couldn't you just move to their house?"_

_Shiro wrinkled his nose with a pout, "I'm gonna look after this house until you come back! When you do, this house will be impeccable as always!"_

_Kuro laughed. "Yeah yeah, okay, little bro. Anyways… look after Ed-kun and Al-kun too, 'kay? They're your responsibility now."_

"_Okay!"_

_Smiling, Kuro stood up and started to walk towards the black car waiting for him a few yards out. He stopped after a few steps and while keeping his back towards his little brother, he said, "Oh yeah. Shiro, promise me you'll never become a State Alchemist, ja?"_

_The absent use of –chan in his name brought a sense of fear to the white haired teenager waiting at the doorway to his house. "Brother..?"_

_When his brother turned around, Shiro gasped. His brother's face was rotting. "Or you'll die like me."_

_Without warning, the whole scene warped until there was nothing but total darkness. Horrified, Shiro reached out a hand towards where his big brother last stood._

"KURO!"

A shuddering gasp, a blink, and then Shiro woke up with his hand still extended out, this time reaching for the ceiling. He blinked the sweat out of his eyes before sitting up.

"A dream… only a dream."

Shiro coughed before resting his head onto his hands.

Several minutes later, he deemed it safe to stand up and looked out the window. It was getting dark.

_Whoops. I took a nap. Ah, Ed and Al better not be up to something._

Shiro yawned in the darkness. He was still looking outside the window, when he saw blue lightning flash up into the sky.

_Blue lightning… flashing up… up? Alchemy? Ah, are they doing alchemy again?_

"Jeez," he muttered lightly. He started ambling slowly towards the door of his room when all of a sudden he felt a presence, a dark foreboding presence that he had the unfortunate luck to meet three years ago. "Human transmutation..!" Eyes widening, his ambling changed into a hurried frenzy trying to go out of his room and downstairs. Crashing into a portrait and uncaring that it fell to the ground and shattered, he ran with all his might towards the room that had the blue glow around it, all the while shouting, "Don't…! Ed! Al! Don't do it! The taboo, Trisha!"

As soon as he reached the door, he burst into it only to be greeted by a sight that would later haunt him in every waking moment in the near future.

"ED! AL! NO!"

-X-

**AN: I hope you read the Author's note above. This story follows the FMA Brotherhood or the manga, NOT THE FIRST ANIME OF FMA. **

**Also, this first chapter is only a preview of Shiro's childhood, not an actual chapter.**


	2. Trouble Already

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I do however own Shiro, my OMC

**So, being a brash and idiotic author, I've decided to go on ahead and write this story… without knowing that the beginnings of FMA Brotherhood and the manga were DIFFERENT! D: What? Since when did that happen? **

**FROM NOW ON SHIRO IS 17, ED IS 15, AND AL IS 14**

* * *

**Current time line… **

Sunlight began to stream through the windows, the curtains pushed aside. The yellow beams hit the face of a white haired teenager lying in bed. He began to stir restlessly before turning over to his side and going back to sleep.

-0-

**Somewhere far away in Liore…**

"You guys street performers or something?"

The storekeeper who asked that watched bemusedly as the golden haired kid spit out his orange juice.

"Where do you get the idea that we're street performers?"

"You're not then?"

"Thanks for lunch," Edward said in a deadpan voice. As both he and Al started to stand, they knocked over a radio overhead with Al's big armor suit. It broke into pieces as it touched the ground, bringing the ire of the storekeeper, "Ah! Excuse me, sir!"

Edward laughed, "Sorry, sorry! We'll fix it!"

As Al drew an alchemy circle around the radio, people came by to see what the ruckus was. As soon as they saw the radio being fixed up by magic, they started exclaiming in awe and surprise.

"You guys can perform miracle works?" the storekeeper asked.

Edward stared at him. "What's that?" "We're alchemists." Al butt in.

The crowd began to stir up again, this time with confused air about them.

"Ever hear about the Elric brothers?" In a proud voice, Ed announced that towards the crowd. This time, the people were able to understand. "Ah, I heard that name before! The Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric!"

Ed posed for the crowd, but the voices kept on going farther and farther away.

"So you're the famous alchemist we heard so much about?"

"Eh, the armor explains your name!"

"Wow!"

Overwhelmed, Al directed their attention towards Ed, who was still posing. The crowd of people stared. "Uh… that pipsqueak over there?"

Edward blew up in front of the crowd. "Who's a tiny beansprout?"

"Ahh! What a pain!" Ed complained once he calmed down from his anger. Al could only laugh, as this had happened so many times for him to be surprised anymore. Still annoyed, he directed his attention towards his cousin. "That lazy bum better be researching instead of just sleeping!" He growled to Al.

Al held up his hands in order to placate his brother. "Ehhh, brother! Have a little trust in Shi-chan! I'm sure he's studying as hard as we are!"

-0-

Back in Central, the sunlight was still streaming in through the windows. However, the teenager in bed found a way to avoid it. All of a sudden he sneezed. Waking up in a daze for only a moment, Shiro went back to sleep.

* * *

**The Next Day…**

Shiro was sitting on the bed, reading books already borrowed ahead of time by Ed. His status as a State Alchemist was damn useful sometimes. However, now it was just a pain in the ass. Seriously, why did Ed need to borrow so many books? The stacks were even taller than him!

Later that night, after reading a few of the books, and by few Shiro only read two or three, he went down to the lobby of the hotel he was staying at. When he saw the sofas free of anyone there, he collapsed on them.

"Ara, who knew reading books could be so boring?" he sighed heavily, and took a look at the table placed next to him. The newspaper on top of it piqued his interest and he read the first page.

'_Isaac McDougal? Freezing Alchemist… has gone rogue?' _he read to himself. '_Ah, and it says here that he's been attacking somewhere near here._' Shiro sighed. "With my luck, he'll attack this building."

At that very moment, a sturdy built man with a ponytail was crouching down in an alleyway next to the hotel that Shiro was in. He was drawing something with a piece of chalk on the ground and when he was finished, he covered the newly drawn alchemy circle with a few pieces of dirty leaves.

He walked down the road in order to find a new area to create his new alchemy circle, unhindered by anyone.

-0-

A few days later, Shiro was found in the lobby again. He had just come back from the library, returning all the books that Ed had borrowed, despite the fact that he didn't finish reading all the books. Just as he sat down in the sofa, the manager of the hotel came up to him. "Elric-san? You have a message from Elric brothers. They called about an hour ago." He said to the tired teenager.

With a wave of Shiro's hand signaling the manager to carry on, he dutifully continued. "Ed-san and Al-san said that they would not come back until tomorrow afternoon at the latest. After finishing with Liore, they said they were busy with another situation at the Youswell Coal Mine."

Shiro made a face. "Christ. Knowing them, they probably got mixed up with something." Seeing the manager's hesitant look, he raised an eyebrow. "Anything else in that message, manager-san?"

"Eto, yes, there was." A pause before he took in a deep breath. "Ed-san was quite adamant that you got this message… in the exact same words. He said, 'you better have read all the books I borrowed for you, you lazy bastard!'" After saying that, the manager profusely bowed and apologized for his behavior.

A laugh interrupted the sweating manager in the middle of his bow. "Hah!" Looking at the bewildered man in uniform, Shiro chuckled. "Man, even talking down to his _older_ cousin. Ed is really something, isn't he?"

Before the manager could reply or possibly agree, a tremble shook the ground of the hotel, alarming Shiro at once. When he looked outside, he saw ice forming on the windows. A cacophony of sounds arose from the panicking people in the hotel.

'_Ice?'_ Shiro then connected the dots. "Shit, the Freezing Alchemist!"

Without looking back, he sprinted outside where the rumbling was even greater in intensity. The sight that greeted him was a large block of ice, towering over all the buildings in Central, gradually moving across the street as it grew.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he ran alongside the moving block of ice when he noticed that other blocks of ice were merging together and still moving. When he looked above the buildings, he saw similar blocks of ice doing the same thing, only they seemed to be heading towards the center. "They're moving towards the Central Command Center!"

Now knowing the goal, he cut through some alleyways and was blocked by another block of ice. This time, he noticed a man standing at the peak of it.

'_Gotcha, Isaac McDougal!'_

Looking around the ground around him, he noticed a mangled piece of pole, uprooted by the ice. Happy that it was still straight at least, Shiro cocked his arm and threw the piece of pole with all his strength.

It flew up the air and managed to graze the arm of the standing man on top. Startled, the man fell down the ice on the other side away from Shiro. Alarmed that the block of ice hadn't stopped moving since the rogue alchemist's concentration was broken, he ran around the other side of the moving ice as fast as he could. When he was able to see the other side, he was surprised when he was struck in the shoulder by two long sticks. Looking closely, he noticed that the two long sticks were actually frozen blood sharp enough to puncture the skin.

Letting up a cry of surprise and pain, Shiro lost his momentum and fell to the ground harshly. When he looked up, he sighted the man quickly running into an alleyway before the block of ice obstructed his view by moving forward.

Having lost his momentum, he opted to just watching the block of ice moving closer to the Command Center as he pulled out the hardened blood out of his shoulder. He just sat there as the ice crept along the borders of the Center's walls. The ice was about to completely encompass the grand building when all of a sudden, the ice stopped moving.

Clutching the bleeding shoulder, Shiro watched as the huge block of ice slowly started to break down until the only visible evidence that it used to be there was the broken ground on which it had slowly trekked.

Slowly, the white haired teenager stood up, looking in the direction of the alleyway that the man, Isaac McDougal, had run into. Deciding to follow the rogue alchemist, he ran after him. After a few twist and turns, he came into another alley only to take a step back in shock.

He saw Isaac on the ground laying in a pool of ground that was gradually growing. Looking up, he saw a man in the shadows holding a sword in the moonlight. The light glinted eerily off the steel blade. Shiro gasped.

"Y-You!"

* * *

A figure in a long red coat and a suit of armor was seen walking along the Central Roads the next day. As they were walking, they took note of the destruction of the roads and surrounding buildings. "Hey, Al. Something big must've happened while we were away." Ed said surprised, with a downward turn of his lips.

Al agreed. "Yeah, it seems so. I hope Shi-chan is okay!"

Their pace picked up and soon they were standing in front of the hotel in shock. In a short time period, the once intact hotel from a few days ago was now half intact. The left side of the building was totally gone and the duo could see the numerous floors from the gaping hole. Scattered debris littered the ground around the hotel.

The brothers could only stare in with their mouths hanging open, only Ed in this case, before Ed exploded.

"WHAT? WH-WHAT? WHEN? WHY? HOOOOOOOW?"

Tears sprang into Ed's eyes as he continued his tirade. "Oh man! The books! THE BOOKS!" he howled into the sky. "The librarian is going to kill me!"

Al sweatdropped. "Brother, shouldn't you worry more over Shi-chan…?"

But Ed refused to listen. He was thinking about the librarian and what she could do to him Her gleaming eyes after she hears what happened to her precious books, her scary ruler that she carried with her at all times, her hair coming undone from her bun and surrounding her face, making her face even darker. '_Librarians are scary!'_ Ed thought with tears in his eyes.

Before Ed could draw out more forms of torture from his mind, he got interrupted by a hand pattng his head. "Ed-chan, I can just feel the love."

The Elric brothers swirled around quickly, dislodging Shiro's hand on Ed, and were met with the smiling figure of Shiro. The difference that they saw from the time they left for Liore was that white haired teenager had a bandage wrapped around his right shoulder and a couple of scratches littering his hands.

"Shi-chan!"

"Lazy bum!"

Shiro deadpanned. _'Ed, you little…'_

His expression cleared when both brothers moved toward him, Al's hands moving towards his damaged shoulder and Ed moving slightly more closer to him. Al's voice rang out with concern. "Shi-chan, what happened?"

Shiro waved off his concerns. "Nothing you should worry about, Al. Just got into a little fight, that's all."

Ed wasn't the one to be easily waved off, however. He scowled and nodded his head towards his covered shoulder, "Doesn't look like nothing to me."

Shiro laughed and ruffled his little cousin's hair. "Like I said, nothing to worry about. Fought a rogue State Alchemist. The Fuhrer finished him off for me."

Ed and Al looked shocked. "Rogue? Wait, the F-Fuhrer? He was involved? Then it wasn't just nothing!"

Their complaining was cut off when Shiro suddenly leaned forward until his face was in front of the Elric brothers. They started to sweat when they saw their white haired cousin's darkening face. "Like I said, it was _nothing_."

A few seconds went by in silence before Shiro leaned back up and smiled cheerfully. "Oh yeah, Ed," he said quite joyfully. "I returned all those books that you borrowed to the library. But I think I forgot one book in my room…" he drifted off and they all looked up at the room he rented at the hotel, the room which was given to them on the left side of the hotel, the left side of the hotel which had been totally obliterated.

Ed's face, which had brightened when he heard that Shiro returned those books, soon fell into despair when his cousin finished. His face paled rapidly. "O-oh shit…"

Ed then started to spaz on the ground, dreaming up of ways that the librarian would torture him. As Al went to soothe his spazzing brother, Shiro looked back at where he could see all the damage done from last night, his good feelings gone for the time being.

'_What a pain._' He sighed heavily. _'I can't tell them that a Philosopher's Stone was involved. After all, one man alone couldn't control an alchemic reaction as big as last night's. Only with a Stone…'_

Shiro looked back at Ed and Al.

_'And if the Fuhrer was involved...'_ He thought back to the previous night.

-X-

"_Y-You!"_

_Dark red eyes looked up at the man cloaked in shadows. The dying gasps of Isaac McDougal cut through the silence between them. The blade protruding from the shadows caught his eye, glinting dangerously in the moonlight._

"_Oh?" The man came out of the shadows to reveal an aging man in a blue uniform. His visible eye crinkled as he smiled. "You are with the Fullmetal Alchemist, yes?"_

_Apprehensive even though this was the Fuhrer, the king of Amestris, Shiro started to sweat in his presence. His silence was enough to answer the Fuhrer's question._

_A glint of red that stood out even surrounded by a pool of blood caught Shiro's attention. When he looked at the ground, he managed to catch a glimpse of a little red stone before it broke into little pieces and disintegrated into thin air. He thought faintly, _'The Philosopher's Stone…'

_Fuhrer took a step forward, his step echoing menacingly, as he took note of what the teen had seen, bringing Shiro's attention back towards the king. Smile all gone, Fuhrer said, "Ja, if you aren't a State Alchemist, you have no business being here."_

_A shiver went down his spine at the tone._

-X-

Remembering what had transpired last night brought a shiver to Shiro again. '_I don't need to tell them about another dead end…and that the Fuhrer is a really scary guy.'_

He looked at Ed and Al and decided to think about those thoughts at a later time. Right now, he had to help Al deal with a spazztastic Ed.

* * *

AN: I hope I didn't confuse anyone with the ice scenes. If you are, then go watch the first episode of FMA Brotherhood. It'll help. Plus, it's really interesting. :)


	3. Sins of an Alchemist

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I do however own Shiro, my OMC.

**Hi.**

**Ahhh, yeah guys long time no see? Sorry, all of a sudden, I had all these exams and tests piled up on me and I realized how easy it is to put off writing. But I think I'm okay now, even though I still have some exams later on in the future…**

**I might have confused some people. You know how I said Shiro was 17 in both chapters? ****Even though there was a HUGE time skip? I didn't want to reveal this already but I think without knowing this, many readers will get confused.**

**SHIRO DOES NOT AGE. SO TECHNICALLY, HE WILL REMAIN 17 UNTIL ****SOMETHING BIG HAPPENS (which will later on *wink*); IMMORTALITY. THAT ****MEANS HE WILL LOOK THE SAME NO MATTER HOW MUCH TIME PASSES. ****YES ED AND AL ARE CONFUSED BUT THEY CHOOSE TO REMAIN SILENT AND ****COME TO THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS.**

Also, to let you guys know, I'm writing the dialogue in ABR exactly as it comes from the anime of FMA Brotherhood because I'm following the anime and I wanted to make it as similar as possible to the actual storyline!

* * *

It was night and the moon was shining especially bright in the sky. It cast a luminescent glow over all the streets in Central and as one man in a blue uniform walked down the streets, he cast a shadow that easily towered over him.

Seconds later, another shadow flickered by.

The broad man with an upturned moustache, an alchemist, stopped short in the middle of the street when he saw a figure half immersed in shadows.

The figure in the shadows shifted before speaking in a rough tone, "You are the Iron Blood

Alchemist, Basque Grand, right?"

Now identified as Basque Grand, the alchemist asked, "And who are you?"

Ignoring the question, the figure in the shadows lifted a hand out into the moonlight, "Alchemists who have turned their backs on the ways of God… shall perish"

Basque Grand scoffed, "Hmph, so you're the murderer who only targets state alchemists."

He then moved so that his arms were blocking his torso. "However, you picked the wrong alchemist to tangle with!"

In a flurry of motions, Basque Grand smashed his metal-covered fists together to emit blue lightning before slamming them into the ground. Arrays of metal cannons formed in the middle of the street and started firing shots at the shadowy figure.

Jumping into action, the unknown man moved deftly on the concrete street to avoid the shots.

The glow from the shots illuminated the man's face, revealing tan skin and his most notable feature of his face, an X-shaped scar. His eyes were hidden with shades.

"You're fast! Still!" The alchemist slammed his hands onto the ground, which started to spout out chains with hooks at the end going straight towards the running man.

When he avoided those too, Basque Grand once more slammed his hands onto the ground with even more force than necessary. From the ground, four walls shot up into the air and encased the scarred man completely.

The alchemist stood up slowly and wiped the sweat off his brows. He then walked up to one of the walls and looked at his handiwork. "Hmph, that wasn't so hard."

All of a sudden, an arm shot out crashing through the iron wall and gripped Basque Grand's head in a tight grasp. "Perish"

Unable to react except to widen his eyes in surprise and horror, Basque Grand could only stand immobile in the man's hold before his whole world went dark in flashes of pain.

* * *

Sun streamed through the room in a large plain window. Right in front of it was a man in blue uniform. His name was Colonel Roy Mustang. In front of him were three of his guests.

Ed and Al sat uncomfortably in a stiff sofa in front of the Colonel's desk. Both their gazes were turned towards their third companion, their cousin, who took it upon himself to doze off in a little nap. Of course, he tried to make it as inconspicuous as possible while the Colonel was speaking to the three of them.

"The Lior case was handled, thanks to you." The Colonel was saying. "Let me convey my gratitude." Shiro was fast asleep before he finished the first sentence.

Ed took his cousin's example and shut his eyes too. "No big deal. We didn't do it for you."

"So, this Philosopher's Stone was a dud too then?"

Ed sat up straight to look the Colonel right in the eyes and shook his head tersely. "It was a fake." But he perked up, remembering the events at Lior. "But the power was incredible, at least for a fake. It was able to transmute this huge Chimera and all."

Al chimed in. "I wonder how he used the Stone to do something like that. We're not very familiar with the fields of live transmutation, so we don't understand it all that well."

Something in Ed's eyes glittered. "Still, it is kind of interesting, huh? If we looked into it, it might come in handy in getting back our bodies."

Al agreed.

The Colonel seemed to have thought of something, as he started to rummage through the drawers of his desk. "In that case, why don't you get help from a specialist." He found what he was looking for and threw whatever was in his hands onto his desk. "The Sewing Life Alchemist, Shou Tucker."

On the desk was a profile of a man with glasses. He seemed slightly gloomy in the picture and not at all happy to be wherever he was. "He's a researcher, dealing with Chimera Transmutation. I'll introduce you to him."

When Shiro registered the name, he woke up from his nap. _'Shou Tucker? The name sounds familiar.'_

As Shiro got up to retrieve Shou Tucker's profile on the Colonel's desk, Ed jumped up and started to shake his arm wildly towards Roy Mustang's general area. "He's up to something! He's definitely up to something!"

When Shiro began to sit down with the profile in his hand, the Colonel was shouting back, "Don't be so suspicious of me! After the Liore case, this makes up even. Being indebted to you would be repulsive."

Eyes twitching at the volume of the conversation, Shiro stared hard at the picture on the profile. _'This guy gives me a bad feeling.'_

Unknowingly, Shiro grumbled out, "Annoying."

Ed and the Colonel stopped arguing and turned to Shiro in surprise.

"What?"

"Since when were you awake?"

* * *

Shiro decided not to go with Ed and Al, and instead waited outside the gate of the quite large house while Colonel Mustang introduced the two brothers to the renowned Shou Tucker. Ed would have forced him to go with them but he gave the excuse that he'd read books for the Stone in the library. Psh, as if…

The door shut and the Colonel started to walk out the gate. When he passed the motionless

Shiro, he paused. "Are you sure you don't want to go in?"

Shiro laughed quietly. "I'm sure, Mistuh Mustang." Letting a fake accent show through for the sake of annoying the Colonel, he continued. "House seems quite stuffy to me."

The esteemed colonel snorted. "How picky of you."

"Well then, if you're sure." Mustang continued to the car waiting nearby. "I'd give you a ride but

I know how much you love to walk." Smirking, he reached the car and opened the door.

Before the colonel got in the car, Shiro piped up. "Hey Mustang." The black haired man paused and turned his head sideways to show he was listening. "Is it true, that Shou Tucker's wife left him?"

This time Mustang turned around with a bemused expression so Shiro elaborated. "Around two years ago, right?"

Mustang hesitantly nodded, not exactly sure where this was going.

Several expressions flitted across Shiro's face before he sent Mustang an upward quirk of his lips as thanks. He then turned the other way the car was facing and walked down the streets.

* * *

Shiro had headed to a library first, after he got every single piece of information there was on Tucker, and then to a hotel where he was currently waiting for Ed and Al to get back after reading.

A couple of newspapers were stacked on top of each other on the table. The one on the top had the face of Shou Tucker on it, which he was currently glaring at from the couch.

_'I knew I saw him somewhere.'_ Shiro huffed from his spot. So frustrated he started grumbling out loud. "How could've no one had known? I mean, it's so glaringly obvious. Of course, unless I'm wrong but the wife disappears coincidentally around the same time he creates a talking chimera? There's no such thing-"

"Hey look Al, Shiro's talking to himself. He finally went senile."

Startled, Shiro heaved off the couch and stumbled towards the table. Making sure his back was towards the brothers, he started picking up the newspapers one by one and asked nonchalantly as possible. "Oh, back already?"

There were thumping noises behind him, probably Ed and Al settling down in the room. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Ah, nothing much. Reading turned up to be dull and…unhelpful." Still keeping his back towards the brothers, he headed towards a bedroom with the stack of newspapers in his hold. In the room, he made sure the newspapers were well hidden and in good condition, because he didn't want another encounter with an angry librarian over books.

Shiro poked his head out of the doorway, where he saw Ed and Al relaxing on the couch after countless hours of reading.

At the angle his head was in, his white bangs fell over his maroon eyes so that only red glimpses of his eyes were seen. _'I heard the books at Tucker's house were quite valuable... and rare too. If he's found out, wouldn't his book become part of the investigation? I don't think even being an alchemist gives you the authority to look at a suspect's belongings…And then Ed can't research anymore.'_

He watched Ed and Al start to converse quietly between themselves with distant eyes. _'But doesn't that guy have a kid?_'

Shiro made up his mind. "Hey." When they looked up at him, he smiled. "I'll go with you guys tomorrow to help you guys read."

* * *

The Next Day

When Shiro arrived to Tucker's house, he couldn't help but feel a chill shudder down his spine.

The house looked particularly uninviting today. But looking at Ed and Al, who walked in without knocking with an exuberant air about them, he

As the trio walked down the halls with Al calling out 'Nina!', whom Shiro guessed was the kid, he couldn't help but feel colder with each step.

"Hey, isn't Tucker-san here today?" Ed asked to no one in general.

They continued towards two big doors up ahead. As they were walking, they passed a side table with lots of frames scattered randomly on top. One picture that stood out was of a little girl and a big white dog. The girl, Nina Shiro presumed, was smiling so big that it seemed to brighten the whole picture. Seeing that made his foreboding feeling worsen.

When they opened the doors, it was pitch black expect the light coming from the doors they've just opened. Two booted feet and four furred legs became visible.

Slowly, Tucker stood up and turned, making the light glint off his glasses eerily. "Hey, Ed, Al. I did it. I finished," he said dully but with a sense of accomplishment. He smiled, but it was so empty. "I made a chimera that can talk."

Ed walked forward, laughing. "Wow, a talking chimera?"

Al was about to follow but a hand on his shoulder pad prevented him. "Shi-chan, wha…" He trailed off when he saw how pale Shiro's face was, how his eyes were fixated on the chimera in front of him. Al turned forward, this time with a sinking feeling in his hollow chest.

Ed and Tucker were talking to each other, both of them not noticing the others.

Tucker kneeled down and faced the inert chimera. "Look here. Listen to me; say Edward."

The dull white chimera with its long hair hanging limply around its face forced out with some difficulty, "Ed….ward. Ed-ward."

Tucker patted the chimera's head while praising it as Ed looked quite amazed. "Amazing! It can really talk!"

Tucker laughed in relief and stood up comfortably. "This is so great! Now I won't lose my state certification."

Nodding, Ed agreed while laughing in congrats. When the chimera opened its drooping mouth to talk again, Edleaned forward to listen better. "Ed…ward… Ed….ward." Shiro had to turn his face away from the pitiful sight at this point. "Big… brother…Edward."

Golden eyes widened until they seemed to overtake Ed's face. A shocked gasp from Al echoed in the room they were in.

Tucker showed no signs that he heard what the chimera said but Shiro could see how Ed's tense shoulders started trembling.

"Ne, Tucker-san, can I ask you a question?" Ed asked, his voice and face equally as dark.

"Of course."

"Tucker-san, when did you get your state certification?"

"Hmm, let me see. About two years ago?"

Ed hummed. "And when did your wife leave you?"

Tucker shifted. "…Two years ago."

"Ok… one more question. Where are Nina and Alexander?" Ed vehemently asked, turning to the now childless father.

Tucker stilled before turning on Ed with a fanatical gleam in his eye. "I hate brats like you, so quick to catch on."

That was the last straw for Ed. He scrambled to his feet and slammed Tucker to the wall of his laboratory with his automail arm. "That's right! You actually did it!"

Al cried out in shock and alarm but Ed continued nevertheless. "Two years ago it was your wife. And this time, it was your daughter and her dog that you used to transmute a chimeras!"

Ed tightened his grip so that Tucker started to breathe out unevenly. "After all, there are limits in animal transmutation, more of all talking chimeras! It's so much easier to use humans, huh?"

Tucker started laughing weakly. "I don't understand why you're getting so upset. We, as human beings, were able to advance forward because of human experiments!"

"Shut up!" Ed was at a loss on how to reason with the deranged man. "Do you honestly think you can get away with this? Toying with a person's life like this!"

An insane grin overtook Tucker's face. "A person's life? Yes, you're right! Toying with a person's life! How about you, Fullmetal? Your brother's armor, your automail arm and leg, wasn't that a result of toying with human lives too? We're the same!"

"No…NO!" That was the final straw for Ed. He fisted his hand and delivered a hard punch to the face, knocking Tucker's glass clean off his face. But instead of quieting, Tucker started to laugh even more. "YES, we're the same! Even though it was taboo, we still tried it because the possibility was just dangling in front of us!"

Losing to his rage, Ed started hauling punches with reckless abandon. "No." Punch. "I don't." Punch. "Alchemists don't!" Punch. "Do this sort of." Punch. "I-I'm not…" Ed shouted in fury and raised his hand for another punch but was stopped by Al's hand.

Ed looked at Al like he couldn't understand why he was trying to stop him. That's when Shiro decided to come over to place his hand on Ed's shoulder to placate him but Ed started trembling with the effort of holding back. He only stopped when his gaze rested upon the nearby chimera, too shocked to hold his fist up in the air any longer.

"Da…ddy. Da… hurt? Dad… is hurt?"

* * *

There was rain and lightning tonight, Shiro noticed, as he looked outside the window into the gloomy night. He observed the officers massing outside Tucker's house. The colonel and lieutenant were already inside, conversing together in low tones. Al was comforting the chimera as he would have Nina and Ed… he was still in the laboratory, from the looks of it.

He must've been leaning on the window for an hour at least when everyone seemed to go outside in the pouring rain. He followed them out for the sake of it and saw how Ed and Al, gloomy and unresponsive to any conversation, got themselves into the colonel's car.

Shiro shook his head at Mustang's inquiring look and ignored the colonel's car leaving without him as he focused on the chimera about to be loaded into a medium sized truck.

He looked around for a nearby officer, looking for a face that looked less stern and found

Lieutenant Riza, left behind to deal with the aftermath. "Hey, Lieutenant!"

Seemingly at ease in the pouring rain, she looked up, face stern but her eyes softening marginally when she saw Shiro. She cocked an eyebrow in question.

"Ah, well, I was wondering if I could ride with Nina, err the chimera I mean." When she looked about ready to refuse, he hastened to say, "Just to wherever you're going. I'll be with her to make sure she doesn't, I don't know, harm herself…" He trailed off because even to him, that excuse was weak.

He was surprised when she replied with a curt "yes." At his surprised look, she elaborated. "Just to make sure the chimera doesn't harm itself."

Shiro nodded his thanks, thankful for the opportunity and hefted himself onto the truck the chimera was in, stuck in a cage.

The doors closed after him and the small space was sufficiently darkened. To Shiro's unease, the chimera's dull blank gaze glowed eerily in the dark.

Its head was lowered but when Shiro got on, it lifted its head. "…who…" it asked in a broken voice.

He couldn't stop the small smile from growing on his face and said back. "Hey, Nina. Do you remember Edward? I think you called him big brother?"

Unable to comprehend the long sentence, it took the chimera several seconds to respond. "Big… bro-ther? Ed…ward…"

His eyes started tearing but he tried to hold it back. "Yeah, big brother. I'm Ed's big brother."

The chimera, Nina, shuffled forward the cage until its face pressed against the bars. "Ed… bro-ther…can call you…big bro-ther?"

Tears were silently falling at this point. Shiro laughed however. "Yes, Nina, you can call me your big brother too."

He reached his hand into the bars and touched Nina's head.

* * *

When Shiro stepped out of the truck after it stopped, he found Ed and Al sitting on the steps of the building, where Tucker would be put in temporarily, even though it was still pouring.

Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Riza exited the building but he couldn't care less because the chimera was currently being unloaded. When the edge of the cage slipped from the grasp of a careless officer, Shiro barked out harshly. "Hey, be careful!"

He got a dirty look in return but he didn't care since he was staring at the chimera's eyes, unresponsive to the world but looking straight at him.

As the carriers walked up the stairs with Nina, Shiro reluctantly waved his hand goodbye. "Bye… Nina."

The doors shut, sealing off Nina from the rest of the world forever.

* * *

When the trio returned to the hotel room, everyone immediately collapsed on beds, Al being the exception since he couldn't sleep. He just leaned on the wall while sitting on the floor.

For several hours, Ed and Shiro slept restlessly as Al seemed to leave his armor shell during that time, so quiet and still was he.

Usually Shiro slept like a log but today, he woke up to the quietest of sounds. Already fully awake because of the pitter patter of the raindrops, he sat up when he heard incessant rustling coming over from Ed's bed. When he heard Ed groaning, he stood up and walked to Ed's bed in the gray light. Ed's face was scrunched together, a nightmare Shiro surmised, and he decided to wake him up.

"Ed, hey Ed." Shiro gently shook Ed's shoulder until he woke up with a gasp. When Ed looked dazed, he explained. "You were having a nightmare."

Ed looked down, depressed, and brought his knees up so he could hide his face in them.

Shiro sighed and leaned on the wall adjacent to Ed's bed, trying his best to comfort the two distressed brothers through silent support.

* * *

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Currently, the trio were standing outside Mustang's room. The door opened but rather than the colonel, it was the lieutenant.

"What's the matter? Why are you here so early?" she asked carefully, conscious of yesterday's events.

Ed was unnaturally subdued. "Um…what's going to happen to Nina and Tucker?" he asked while looking at the ground.

Lieutenant Riza's eyebrows rose in surprise before a grim look passed her face. She shut the door behind her and proceeded to walk down the hallway, prompting the three to follow her.

She said, "Tucker-san was scheduled to have his certification stripped and go to trial, but…" she exhaled. "Both of them are dead."

"De-dead?"

Various degrees of shock, disbelief, and anger flitted across the faces of Ed and Shiro. Al wasn't much better off, as he drew in a shocked gasp.

The lieutenant glanced back while still walking briskly. "You would have found this out eventually, so I'll just tell you now. They've been killed."

"H-how? By who?" Ed spluttered.

"We don't know yet. I was just about to head over to the scene right now."

Al started to walk faster to keep up with the lieutenant's brisk pace. "We're coming too!"

"No."

Ed burst out angrily, "Why not!"

Riza stopped abruptly and swiftly turned around. Locking gazes with maroon eyes, she said, "It's best if you don't see this."

* * *

It was still pouring, despite it being the next day. Ed and Al didn't seem to care, as they sat next to a monument in the middle of a park. Shiro was several feet away from them, leaning on the rails of a nearby staircase. He saw the looks on the Elric brothers and decided to give them some private time between themselves.

He was just listening to the pitter patter of the rain, not minding at all his soaked brothers, when Al's shocked cry made him turn around sharply. He heard the unmistakable sound of Ed transmutation before smoke billowed around the area, masking whoever it was that surprised the brothers from Shiro's view.

Ed was on the ground, his back to Shiro, and he shouted in surprise. "What the hell!"

The cement wall the Ed transmutated flew apart under blue lightning as the sound of transmutation was heard. A white haired man, tan and well built, stepped out of the hole in the wall. His shaded eyes couldn't mask the X-shaped scar standing out from his olive-toned skin.

Shiro's eyes widened. _'An Ishvalan?'_

The dangerous man focused on the fallen Ed, not noticing Shiro a few feet back, as he stepped forward one step at a time.

Ed seemed too shocked to move and he remained on the ground. Shiro's shout snapped him out of his reverie.

"Ed! Al! _RUN_!"

Snapping back to his senses, he jumped to his feet and ran towards the staircase where Shiro was waiting, with a cry of his brother's name.

Ed and Al started running like crazy towards Shiro and then all three of them started tumbling down the stairs, taking two or three steps at once in their haste.

They didn't go that far down the stairs before the wall next to them exploded in a rain of cement blocks and dust. The stairs crumbled soon after, making Ed and Al lose their balance and almost fall to their deaths below. Luckily, Al grabbed the edge of the stairs and Ed's ankle before they could fall.

Shiro was still on the part of the stairs where it wasn't broken but he jumped down to catch Ed as he slipped from Al's wet grasp. Just in time too because the Ishvalan clenched his fist and attacked the stairs, making everything crumble.

Shiro landed on the ground with Ed in his arms and Al's big body landed next to him soon after. Shiro glared at the Ishvalan as the man nimbly stepped over the fallen debris and stalked towards them.

"Shiro, Al, hold on!"

Ed clapped his hands together and forced them on the ground, where a pillar with all three of them on top shot sideways towards the slanting streets. The mobile pillar broke when the man just punched his hands through it and the three resorted to running down the streets like their lives depended on it, which they were.

"Damnit Ed, you sure did piss that guy off," Shiro gasped out as he ran.

Ed couldn't afford to glare and instead bit off, "Making enemies is something I've never…" he trailed off as he realized something. "…really avoided, but that's still no reason to kill me!"

They swiftly turned towards an alleyway but as they were about to reach the end, the surrounding buildings next to them crumbled and the falling debris blocked their exit.

Everyone was breathing heavily but the Ishvalan seemed undeterred. He just walked in the alleyway, blocking the only exit left.

"Who are you? Why are you coming after us?" Ed asked angrily.

The man's facial expression didn't change but his eyes sharpened beneath his shades. "If there are 'creators' like you, then there must able be 'destroyers',"

Ed grumbled so that only Al and Shiro could hear. "Damn, then there's no other option left but to fight."

Al tensed his body as Ed transmuted a fallen lead pipe into a short sai. The Elric brothers launched themselves at the Ishvalan with a fierce cry.

Smirking, the Ishvalan bypassed them both as his hand touched Al's midsection. In a burst of blue lightning, Al's metal chest exploded in a flurry of broken metal pieces.

Ed screamed as he fell to the ground next to his brother, "Al!"

Seeing nothing inside, the man's smirk vanished quite quickly and he stood stock still as his mind tried to comprehend the empty suit of armor. His headed whipped around quickly only to be smashed in the head with Shiro's knee.

Shiro jumped off him quickly and slid over to Al's prone body. He stood tense and ready as the man had to lean on the wall for support as one of his hands covered his bloody face. Through the gaps of his fingers, red eyes glared angrily at Shiro before it widened in surprise, like he was just noticing he was there or something.

In a moment of anger, he ran by Shiro and swung his sai at the man. Recovering quickly, the Ishvalan grabbed the swinging arm easily and tried to destroy that too but the force of the energy just pushed Ed back a couple of feet.

As Ed furiously tore off his red cloak, the man observed the state of the boy's body, most notably his automail arm. "Automail? I see, so that's why bodily destruction doesn't work on you."

"You are quite unusual." The Ishvalan commented as he watched Ed turn his arm into a sword.

From the ground, Al cried out, "Brother, don't! Run away!"

"You dumbass! How can I run and leave you behind?" Ed shouted back.

The Ishvalan was talking to himself but Shiro was too far away to hear him. He got himself ready and picked up Ed's fallen sai. When the Ishvalan brought his hands out in a fighting pose, Shiro briefly patted Al's metal shoulder before shooting at the Ishvalan at the same time Ed swung his arm at him.

Ed reached him first and swung his automail sideways in the air. The man just swayed backwards to dodge it before jumping out of the way of Shiro's downward strike.

The man's eyes glinted ferociously. "Let's start with you." All of a sudden, he braced both feet on the ground before shooting towards Shiro, who was too startled to react. Ed and Al watched in horror as the man collided with their cousin.

The deadly hand which shot out blue lightning was clenched around the sai, which Shiro used to block in front of him at the last second. Shiro braced himself when he saw the hand start to crackle ominously.

The resulting boom destroyed the street around them and pushed Shiro back with so much force that he was propelled back into one of the already damaged building. The weak building started to tremble before collapsing on Shiro's prone body.

"No…no! _Shiro!"_

* * *

Shiro breathed erratically. His vision was blurry and he could taste the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. He couldn't hear anything past the ringing noise coming from everywhere but he could feel the rain still dripping down the cracks and onto him at the bottom of the fallen debris.

Mustering up as much force as he can, he heaved at the remains of the broken building until it cleared and was rewarded with the image of the grey sky. He struggled to sit up and put his head in his hands. He still couldn't hear anything except the ringing of his head but Al's high-pitched cry broke through his daze of pain. "Stop. Stop! No, _STOP!"_

He froze at the desperate cry and struggled to focus on the scene in front of him.

What he saw froze him.

The Ishvalan was standing over Ed's prone body, his automail arm discarded on the floor, broken into unmanageable pieces, the Ishvalan's hand reaching out just a few inches from Ed's unmoving head, the hand, the _hand_ that destroyed the city effortlessly, reaching towards Ed's head, Ed not moving_. Why wasn't Ed moving?_

Shiro looked at Ed's face turned towards him. Their gazes locked; Ed's eyes were dull and desperate but they weren't afraid, no it was, but they weren't afraid for his life. Ed closed his eyes.

The next few moments were a blur. Shiro could hear himself breathing, which seemed abnormally loud. However, he couldn't hear anything else and his vision was blurry. When he was able to focus, he realized he was crouching down next to Ed.

His last thought before his vision blacked out was, _'I thought I was too far away... to save him…but thank god...'_

* * *

Al stared in shock from his place on the ground. One moment Shi-chan was next to him, covered in fallen debris and the next, he was all the way over to Ed's side. He didn't know what just happened but the man set out to kill Ed was kicked out of the way with so much force, he slammed into a building.

He snapped out of his shocked stupor when he saw Shi-chan slump down unceremoniously to the wet ground.

"Shi-chan? Shi-chan!"

Ed pushed himself off the ground with his good arm and dragged himself next to his cousin. He pushed himself up to a sitting position before gently shaking his white haired cousin. "Shiro? No, no, hey Shiro?"

He couldn't bear to raise his voice, he was too shocked that he was still alive. And it was all thanks to his cousin, his fallen cousin who he couldn't decide if he was dead or not.

The sound of the man getting on his feet didn't surprise him but he tensed up while trying to cover his cousin's body with himself.

A shot rang out in the hair, surprising everyone in the vicinity. When Ed looked up, he gave a shout of relief. The colonel was there, along with his personnel. Mustang smiled reassuringly when he caught sight of Ed.

Now knowing that man was off his hands, Ed focused on trying to stand while trying to pick up Shiro at the same time. He was able to stand up at least but stumbled down at the extra weight. Before he could fall down, Ed was caught by sturdy arms. He looked sideways and saw Havoc's grinning face.

With Havoc's help, Ed was able to drag Shiro and himself over to Al's prone body. He ignored the ongoing battle issuing next to him and rather focused on making sure to gently lower Shiro's limp body on the ground.

Havoc helped Al sit up and made him lean on the wall next to him before going over to the general battle area.

Both Ed and Al stared at Shiro's dirty bruised face before skimming over the extent of his damages. Ed winced when he saw Shiro's bloody arm twisted at an odd angle, probably dislocated. The battle sounds slowly dissipated but the Elric brothers didn't notice, too caught up in their own world.

Mustang, along with Riza, Armstrong, Hughes, and Havoc, stood at the side, watching them. Havoc commented idly, "Looks like there's a long story to that," he nodded towards Al's empty body to clarify.

All the adults jumped when Al suddenly punched Ed in the face.

Ed gasped in shock. "A-Al?"

Al shouted, "You stupid brother! Why didn't you run away when I told you to?"

Dumbly, Ed answered, "W-well, I couldn't just leave you here…"

"That's why you're so stupid!" Al punched Ed again.

Ed lifted a hand to his smarting cheek and leaned backwards away from his punch-happy brother. "Why are you so mad! If I'd run away, you and Shiro could've been killed, you know!"

Al screamed back, his puerile voice ringing sharply in his suit of armor. "And maybe we wouldn't have been killed! Choosing to die deliberately is something only a stupid person will do!" When Ed opened his mouth to protest, Al had enough. He grabbed his brother's loose black top and lifted Ed a couple of inches off the ground. "Live on. Live on and survive! Once you research more into alchemy, you can get our bodies back, as well as finding a way to help kids like Nina! You can repay Shiro back for everything he's done, loving us, taking care of us, standing by us until we were ready to take the first step!"

Ed could only stare in shock at his brother's words. Al continued grimly. "I won't ever allow you to abandon all these possibilities and choose death!"

At this point, Al's weakened metal clad arm broke off, letting Ed go free from his grasp.

"Ah! Look, now my arm broke off!" Al said, his voice frenzied and unstable.

Ed looked at the ground and focused on Shiro's face on the ground. He trailed his eyes at all the cuts his cousin's face suffered when he was smashed into the wall. He reached out with his hand to touch Shiro's face and smiled grimly. "We're falling apart, huh, Alphonese?"

Ed adjusted Shiro's head until he was in his lap. "Saying we look terrible doesn't even cover it."

Al replied, "But we're still alive… we all are." Al reached for Shiro's hand with his other free arm.

Ed made a noise of agreement. "Mm hmm, yeah…"

Overhead, the sky stopped raining and almost at once, the sun poked its head out of the clouds and started to shine.

**AN: Wow, 15 pages. I hope it was REALLY worth it because I felt really guilty for not updating for like 4 (?) months. Hah, actually it was mostly because I didn't know how to end it so… enjoy! **

**Oh, and there's bound to be alot of mistakes b/c I don't have a beta and I'm getting this chapter out asap because people waited long enough. **


	4. Breakthrough

AN: Happy belated New Years everyone! Wanted to put up a chapter before school started again!

Disclaimer is in the first chapter.

**IMPORTANT NOTE: Not a new chapter, sorry! But I've changed the info in the first chapter just for heads up. I wrote the preview like 5 months ago but as I wrote the story, I've changed some things. Not BIG changes but mostly to clarify things. I've taken out his STYLE of fighting cause I had no idea what I was writing there and it doesn't even fit with the story. Also, I've taken out that Shiro is an alchemist prodigy. Thanks to a review, I see that it was a mistake in the first place, because I'm not even incorporating that into my story so I just let some people down because I already said Shiro was NOT a gary sue.**

**Sorry!**

* * *

_Red eyes stared back into the same red eyes. _

_Shiro was in the Pinako's bathroom yet again. It had become a habit to go to the bathroom everyday now, one that started ever since he himself had committed the taboo. _

_Ever since the trio came to stay at the Rockbell's house, Shiro locked himself into their bathroom for at least an hour. And he couldn't help but stare avidly into the mirror._

_When he saw the mirror, Shiro couldn't help but be horrified. Every. Single. Day._

_In the mirror was a youthful white haired boy with red eyes. He looked to be in the late teens. And that was the problem._

_For the past few years, Shiro didn't age. He didn't grow, not even an inch. For god's sake, he didn't even grow hair anymore._

_He was supposed to be older, so much older, so why did he still look like a teenager?_

_Shiro looked down into the sink, away from the horrid image reflected back to him. He had to fight the urge to smash the mirror into pieces._

_And like every day, he couldn't help but think,_ 'What am I?'

_A knocking sound brought him out of his depressing reverie. _

_When Shiro opened the door, he saw Ed there, a steel arm poised to knock again. _

_Despite the depressing ambiance that surrounded Shiro, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of the automail because it was a sign of hope._

_Recently, a state alchemist by the name of Roy Mustang had come by, lured by the rumors of some alchemy prodigies around this area. He came by the Rockbell's residence after he had seen Trisha's… body and found Ed and Al, both of them half dead and devoid of life. A few choices words and the colonel soon left but not before Ed and Al got the fire back in their eyes. _

_Ever since then, Ed was resolved to join the military and begged for Pinako and Winry to make him an automail._

_They couldn't refuse when Ed looked so determined like that._

_Ed cleared his throat, bringing Shiro out of his thoughts._

"_Oi, old man, gonna take all day in the bathroom?"Ed grinned._

_Not at all amused at the nickname, Shiro scoffed and broadened his stance on the threshold of the bathroom. He made sure to block the sides with his arms too._

"_This 'old man' needs to take a long hot bath. Cause you know, that's what 'old men' do." Shiro stressed the 'old man' part and grinned. He even waggled his eyebrows at the blond. "Pipsqueak."_

_Ed's grin fell and a tick mark appeared on his forehead. He lifted his leg backwards, his _automail_leg, and smiled mockingly._

_Shiro's grin also fell. '_Damn blondie.'

_Shiro moved out the bathroom with a glower and listened as the door shut. Trying to get the last word, in a sense, he sat right outside the door and leaned on it._

"_Hey Ed, you should do a number two, like right now, as I'm right outside the bathroom and everything." Incoherent grumbling could be heard inside. "I promise I won't laugh."_

_Shiro laughed._

_After a few minutes with Shiro just idly leaning on the door, he realized he left his beaded necklace inside. Getting up with a groan, he knocked on the door without turning around. _

_He managed to stretch out his arms a couple of times before the door opened. _

"_So Ed, did ya do a num…" Shiro said as he turned around but he trailed off when he saw who was standing at the doorway._

_It wasn't Ed anymore. _

_Ed didn't have black hair. Ed wasn't taller than him._

_It was his older brother._

_Completely in shock, Shiro couldn't do anything but stare at the motionless figure. He let his eyes stare into the messily cut black hair, then into the blank golden eyes of his brother, then at his chest, his bloody chest._

_There was a gaping hole in his brother's military uniform along with a hole in his body too._

_His brother's heart was gone._

_Shiro screamed._

**FMAFMAFMAFMA**

Shiro's eyes sNapped open only to slam shut at the white light that assaulted his eyes.

He groaned out loud and weakly pawed at his chest, where he had to make sure he still had a heart. When his hand rested over _his_ heart, he sighed in relief when he felt it beat, albeit a bit rapidly.

He tried to turn over but a spike of pain flashed through his side, resulting in him staying as still as possible. While waiting for the pain to subside, Shiro observed the room he was in and determined that it was very white.

'_A hospital? Why…'_

And then everything came back to him.

"Ed!" he shouted as he sat up straight. He doubled over in pain right after and didn't hear the door slam open as his senses were assaulted by pain.

Shiro began to breathe heavily through his nose in order to calm himself and started when he felt a hand rest over his back, rubbing.

After several moments passed, Shiro wearily looked up to whoever it was and saw Ed. He was fine, except some cuts littering his face.

Shiro breathed a sigh of relief and reached up to grab Ed's golden head. He brought his head towards his until their foreheads were touching and closed his eyes to bask in this peaceful moment.

He didn't care how long time passed but he pulled away though his gaze never left Ed's relaxed face. Then he remembered Ed's pained face the night where he almost died.

Ed must have seen something in his red eyes because he said sorry with such a miserable face that Shiro couldn't help but smile at the cuteness.

"Ne, as long as you never do that again, I'll always forgive you."

* * *

Despite the fact that the hospital wanted him to stay for a couple of days, Shiro was up and gone after he realized he slept for two days straight unconscious.

Stay? No thanks.

He hated hospitals.

Ed and Al, indisposed as he was, had to go to Resembool. Ed had to get a new automail and Al could only get fixed after Ed got his new arm. They asked him if he wanted to go too but Shiro refused, saying he felt too sore to walk.

Well, not too sore that he couldn't walk out the hospital.

He left the hospital the day he woke up and found the nearest hotel to check in. He slept the second he got into his room.

Shiro woke up when someone knocked on his door. He was too tired to make himself presentable and instead stumbled to the door, hair everywhere and all.

When he opened the door, a shiver shot up his spine. It wasn't from the cold but it was because of the guy standing in front of him.

He was a normal average guy, wearing the hotel's green uniform. He had brown hair and brown eyes, nothing outstanding. He was even wearing a name tag labeled Lee.

Yet this guy bothered the shit out of him.

The guy, _Lee_, held out the receiver of the vintage phone to Shiro while grinning, creepily in his opinion. He took it warily and was slightly relieved when he heard Ed's voice come through the receiver.

"Hey Shiro."

Smiling slightly, Shiro backed up into his room with the receiver but the _Lee_ guy stepped forward. The albino started but realized that he only did this because the cord was too short for the guy to stand outside. The guy was holding the bulky part of the telephone, the part with the dials, and when he noticed Shiro covertly glancing towards him, _Lee_ showed the part he was holding in response.

"Hey... Ed, er, w-what… was it that you needed?"

Ed paused and asked warily, "Are you ok?"

Shiro was barely paying attention because standing so near to this guy was severely compromising his attention span.

When Ed started to repeat himself, growing steadily alarmed, he answered, "Oh, sorry! Just, you know, woke up."

Ed seemed to realize something was wrong and spoke hesitantly. "Right…" There was a shuffling sound and some mumbled talk but Shiro still heard parts of it.

"Crap.. can't… tell.. wrong…it's- urgent."

Ed came back to the phone and started whispering. "Hey, something's wrong right? Is.. is it bad?"

Shiro glanced at the seemingly innocuous _Lee_ and just saw his eyes glancing away from him. He kept an eye on him as he spoke, "No, my back is fine. I can still do whatever you want me to do. Thanks for asking."

Thankfully Ed seemed to realize the extent of his situation. "Okay, wait hold on." There was a bit of static before Ed whispered even lower. "Can you go to the First Branch Library and look up Dr. Marcoh's research? Got a lead and I can't wait."

Shiro observed the guy's appearance and when he showed no outward reaction, he relaxed and answered, "Sure, I'll go tell Mustang that."

"You sure everything's okay?"

Shiro smiled. "Yeah."

"Okay then," Ed trusted him enough to let it go, "See you later. Coming back as soon as possible."

Shiro was surprised he was coming back already but refrained from asking. He wanted that guy out of his room as soon as possible.

He hung up and handed the receiver back but accidentally touched hands. A violent shiver raced up his spine as he was assaulted with _pain. suffering. help. pleasepleasesomeone. thousands, millions daddynowhere, my daughter, nonoNO._

Sweating terribly, Shiro jumped back and forcibly pulled himself together when he noticed _Lee_ look at him, a calculating gleam in his eyes.

"Ah, I j-just felt a cold draft…" Shiro stuttered out as an excuse.

Suddenly Shiro could see that guy's eyes turn from gentle to cruel. He was about to grab something to defend himself but _Lee _just bowed and left the room abruptly, telephone and all.

Shiro blinked the sweat out of his eyes and plopped down to the ground as he listened to the receding footsteps of that guy. He began to breathe heavily to calm himself down.

'_Shit. What the hell was that?'_

**FMAFMAFMAFMA**

Outside, as _Lee_ walked out the door, his polite grin morphed into a devious smirk. When he spoke, his voice wasn't the deep baritone of a man, it was more childish and lighter.

"So, the First Branch Library, huh?"

Red sparks flickered at the guy's feet. The sparks gradually covered his whole body but it wasn't the same guy as before. This person wore a two piece clothing: a miniskirt with pants underneath and a tight top that reached his midsection, leaving his stomach bare. Gone were the brown hair and instead were long locks of green hair spread evenly around his face.

His smirk turned absolutely cruel. "Gotta tell Lust what they're doing."

As he walked, his skirt shifted upwards to show more skin. On his left thigh was an Uroboros tattoo.

* * *

Over the next three days, Shiro had been going to the library to look up Dr. Marcoh's research. Everyday there was no luck in finding them because he didn't want to ask the librarians for this. He vaguely remembered the name Dr. Marcoh and it came to him that he was one of the doctors in the Ishvalan War. He was sought after by the government because he deserted the war.

If he was looking into the research of such a guy, then he needed to do it secretly lest he attract the attention of high ranking officials he didn't want.

On the third day of looking through every nook and cranny of the grandiose library, he struck gold in the way back of the building.

In the form… of Dr. Marcoh's cookbook?

Shiro stared blankly at the yellow book. He looked around the area where he first found the book and found more volumes… of that blasted cookbook.

'_You got to be kidding me.'_

Shiro groaned out loud and slumped down to the ground. He spent _three_ days in this library to research, which he absolutely loathed, and the only thing he found was a cookbook.

Shiro glared at the innocent yellow cookbook he held and flipped through it.

'_At least have something good to eat so it makes up for all this.'_

He barely flipped through the first ten pages when he smelled smoke. It was faint but it was still there and the fact that he was in a library, first of all, alarmed him.

When he looked out the library's window, he saw black smoke furling up to the sky.

Shiro cursed and jumped to his feet. With one cookbook in hand, he grabbed the rest of the volumes, five in all, and stuffed them into his jacket. Since he was in the back of the library, the exit was quite far and he rushed as quickly as he could towards the door.

Just as he was about to reach the door, the ceiling right above it groaned. With a curse, he jumped back and just in time too because the ceiling beam fell down with a crash right in front of the door, blocking the only exit.

With no time to spare, Shiro ran for the other option: the windows. However, when he looked outside, he saw that he was three stories high.

"You have got to be kidding." Shiro groaned.

He lost his nerve but quickly gained it back when he could the heat of the flames on his back. Gathering up his courage, Shiro quickly aimed for the nearest tree and jumped. He managed to grab onto a branch, however he was forced to let go when pain flashed through his side. Falling down several feet, he luckily landed on a big bush.

For several moments, Shiro laid on the leaves wide-eyed and gasping for breath. Overhead, he could see the black smoke massing together and the steadily darkening sky lightened by the ominous gleam of the fire.

He closed his eyes in a brief prayer of thanks and stood up carefully. Then, in order to go before any authorities could arrive and question him, he started to hobble down the road as he left behind the burning mess of a building behind him.

**FMAFMAFMAFMA**

Shiro finally arrived back at the hotel past midnight. Truth was, he was still healing from his injury, he didn't have money to get a taxi, and he took the long route home because he didn't want anyone to see him, most of all authorities.

When he opened the door to his hotel, he was pleasantly surprised to discover Ed and Al have already returned from their trip to Resembool.

They seemed to be talking together but when he entered dirtied, scratched, and smudged with dirt and grass in his hair, they immediately jumped to their feet.

"What happened!" They asked simultaneously. "We heard that the First Branch Library burned down hours ago!" Al said.

Shiro was about to answer when he noticed two other people in the room with them. These two military soldiers, one blond-haired male and the other a short cut black-haired female, seemed to be at ease around Ed and Al so he assumed the brothers weren't under watch or anything like that. But he wasn't about to say something so important to these strangers if they were going to report back to the higher officials.

When Ed noticed his glances towards the two, he introduced them. "We can trust them. They're Major Armstrong's men. The guy's named Denny Brosh and she's Maria Ross." The two soldiers perked up at their names and greeted Shiro formally.

"We are pleased to make your acquaintance!"

Tired beyond belief at this late hour, Shiro merely grunted and handed over the six volumes of Dr. Marcoh's cookbooks to Ed and Al. at their inquiring looks, he explained. "These are Dr. Marcoh's."

At these words, Ed quickly opened up one of the books and started to read. His face quickly soured when he realized he was reading directions on how to make apple pie.

Shiro hastened to reply before Ed could explode. "I know, that was me a few hours ago." He looked at Al as he began reading too. "But as I was walking back here, I realized something. These books, they seem to be written in a code."

Hearing the word 'code', Ed's whole face lightened up and his eyes sparked at the challenge. Before he could set out to read, he asked. "Are you fine?"

Shiro nodded wordlessly and watched as Ed and Al gathered up all the volumes and set out reading. When they looked up towards him in question, he shook his head. "I'm gonna take a shower and then I'm gonna take a nice long nap. After all, I did get these books for you."

At that, he turned and headed towards the bathroom and passed by the two military personnels without a glance and closed the door.

**FMAFMAFMAFMA**

Shiro had the worst wake–up call. He accidentally slept in the shower tub as he was taking a bath and woke up because his head slipped underwater. He sat up abruptly sputtering out water out his nostrils.

Properly dry and dressed, Shiro came out of the bathroom, wrinkled from his long stay in the water. He was about to greet everyone in the room but stopped when he realized the atmosphere was dark and gloomy.

Blinking, Shiro looked around and noticed the two soldiers looking sick. He then looked down at Ed and Al on the floor, surrounded by notes and paper. They didn't look sick, just incredibly angry. Shiro didn't remember a time when they were this furious.

Without looking up, Ed bit out. "Humans."

Shiro raised an eyebrow and knelt down next to his two immobile cousins where he could see Ed gnashing his teeth together. "The ingredients to the Philosopher's Stone…is living humans!"

Eyes darkening at the news, Shiro carefully grabbed a paper full with Ed's handwriting and read it. Closing his eyes, he tilted his face upwards.

'_What is becoming of this world?'_

_

* * *

_

Ross and Brush asked to leave their hotel room while they set their minds straight again. They didn't leave, however, without Ed first warning them to keep it a secret. They left quite reluctantly at that.

After they left, the room was silent and dark. No one bothered to turn on any lights and let the city lights from the window illuminate their room. Finally Al broke the silence. "Ed, Shi-chan, go get something to eat."

Shiro didn't bother responding and Ed just replied, "Don't want anything."

No one said anything for the next few minutes.

All of a sudden, Ed reached for the ceiling with his automail. "You know, just when we think it's in reach, it slips away from us." He clenched his fist. "When we have it in our grasps, we get kicked down by whatever we've caught."

Then Shiro saw Ed smile deprecatingly. "God must really hate people who commit taboos… I wonder if we'll be like this the rest of our lives."

Those words pained Shiro greatly because he knew… he knew that he was also one of those people. '_I still haven't told them that I… also committed the taboo.'_

Eyes downcast, he barely registered Ed talking to Al. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you for a while…" Ed took a deep breath and opened his mouth to ask but was interrupted by a series of loud knocks on their door.

Startled out of their minds, everyone in the room jumped to their feet, though they relaxed at once when they realized who exactly the person was when he shouted, "Elric brothers! I know you're in there! It is I! Open up!"

Glancing at each other, Ed deadpanned. "Ignore him."

Easier said than done.

The door burst open in a flurry of wooden specks and Shiro dreadfully watched as the door fell down to the ground. _'Oh my god.'_

"Such tragedy!" Major Armstrong exclaimed, sparkles and waterworks in all. "To think that such a terrible secret was concealed by the Philosopher's Stone!"

'_Please, keep on your shirt this time.'_

Shiro thought as he watched Ed glare accusingly towards the sweating Ross and Brosh. As they hurried to defend themselves, Major Armstrong continued his crying tirade to the other occupants of the room. "To think that the military was conducting something like that! The truth can be a cruel thing at times!"

At the word 'truth', Ed's eyes widened. Seeing this, Shiro took the chance to interrupt the Major and asked him, "What's wrong?"

To Al, he replied. "Do you remember what Dr. Marcoh said? " Grimly smiling, Ed remembered. "The truth within the truth… It's the same as with the alchemy research notes. What you see on the surface is only a portion of the truth. There's still more. There's still…"

* * *

Gone was the dark atmosphere. The people in the room, transformed now that the lights were on, were full of enthusiasm and trepidation as they looked down at a map of Central on the coffee table.

Major Armstrong pointed out four different points on the map. "Currently, there are four alchemy laboratories in Central which have connections to the government. Among these laboratories, Dr. Marcoh worked at the 3rd Laboratory." He pointed to a place on the map labeled the '3rd Laboratory'. "This one is the most suspicious."

Ed was deeply in thought. "Hmmm. We went around to all the laboratories in the city but they weren't doing any remarkable research."

He quieted as he tried to search for a solution. Shiro was looking too and he noticed a crossed out building. His eyes glinted when he saw what was next to the building.

"Oi, Major, what about this building?" Shiro asked.

Major saw what he was pointing at and looked upwards to Ross for an explanation.

Holding a file in he hands, she explained to everyone. "That's the building for the 5th Laboratory, but its not currently in use. There's been a risk of it collapsing so it's been declared off-limited. Why?"

When everyone looked at the albino, he explained. "Look at the building next to it." As everyone looked at what was next to it, he continued. "It's a prison." He smiled sardonically. "Nice to have a fresh batch of ingredients just next door, isn't it?"

When Shiro tapered off, Ed continued, grimly but excitedly. "They would have condemned prisoners to execution. Officially, they could say they were executed but…" Ed trailed off also, but everyone got the gist of it at this point.

Face blue, Ross put a hand to her lips. "The prisoners were the ingredients…"

Al piped up. "And if prisons from other jurisdictions were involved, I wonder if the government is involved too.

Both the soldiers' faces were blue at this point. "Why do I get the feeling that we've stuck our noses into something terrible here?"

Worried, Al exclaimed, "That's why we asked you guys to pretend you never heard anything!"

The room fell into silence soon after. No one had anything to say. It wasn't long before Major Armstrong stood up with the map in his hands. "I shall look into this." Facing everyone, the Major continued. "In the meantime, 2nd Lieutenant Sergeants, speak of this to no one." The two soldiers saluted and gave a word of agreement. Turning to Shiro and his cousins, he said. "And you three, behave yourselves."

Shiro rolled his eyes when Ed and Al noticeably jumped at getting caught.

Eyes glinting something fierce, the Major drew himself up. "Look here, you two! You were just thinking of sneaking into the laboratory and looking around, weren't you?"

Ed and Al vehemently refused. "We weren't, we weren't!"

**FMAFMAFMAFMA**

Some time later, Shiro grinned mockingly and spoke in a high-pitched falsetto voice. "We weren't, we weren't, huh?"

Ed grunted. "Shut up!"

Ed, Al, and Shiro were running along the streets of Central as the stars glinted in the sky. No lights were on out on the streets but the full moonlight was enough to light the streets for them.

As they arrived at the abandoned laboratory, they paused when they saw a guard outside the doors.

"Hmm, a guard posted at an abandoned building?"

"It's very suspicious."

As the brothers conversed together, Shiro drew back and walked to the walls.

"How are we getting in?" Al asked.

Ed stopped to think. "We could make our own entrance."

Al rejected that option. "They'd see the light of your transmutation."

They stopped talking when a rock dropped from above to land between the two. They looked up towards the fence walls of the laboratory and saw Shiro at the way top, waving at them.

Ed deadpanned. "Or that…"

Once everyone got over the fence wall, they approached the abandoned laboratory. They looked for other ways in when they saw the entrance heavily barricaded with boards.

A few minutes later, Shiro found an air vent up along the walls of the laboratory and quietly pointed it out to the others. Shiro waited as Ed was boosted up towards the vent by standing on Al's shoulders. Opening it up, he said to Al as he tried to fit himself as comfortable as possible inside the vent, "Al, wait here, okay?"

"Are you going to be all right?"

Ed grinned from inside the vent. "All right or not, with your big size you can't get through here, right?"

Dejected, Al huddled on the ground. "I didn't get this big because I wanted to…"

Shiro smiled and patted Al's big suit of armor soothingly. Gracefully, he leaped for the opening and grabbed it. Unlike Ed, he was tall enough to not use Al for support.

Ed seemed to hear his thoughts because he craned his head back uncomfortably and glared at his white-haired cousin despite the narrow space they were crawling through.

**FMAFMAFMAFMA**

Ed and Shiro were crawling for three minutes, four tops, before the narrow vent seemed to shrink even more. Ed groaned. "Damn, it's even tighter in here than I thought." Struggling a bit more, he paused to rest. "I couldn't have gotten through here if I was regular-sized."

Since his cousin was behind him, Ed couldn't see Shiro's shoulders shaking.

He continued absentmindedly. "Luckily, my body is small…"

Ed finally heard the muffled laughter coming from behind him and he spazzed. "I just said I was small!"

Ed's cries and Shiro's laughter echoed in the vent.

Further down, the duo breathed a sigh of relief as they saw an opening on the bottom of the vent. They struggled to crawl a bit farther and jumped out the vent when they opened it.

Sweating and dusty, Shiro and Ed dropped down into a dirty hallway. Imagine their surprise when they saw that the lights on the bottom were lit.

"'Not currently in use' my foot." Ed grinned triumphantly. "Bingo."

As they cautiously walked down the hallway, they were stopped short soon after when they came across two exits to the hallway.

Cursing, Ed looked between the two exits. "Hey, split up?"

Shiro grinned and made a noise of agreement.

Ed started to walk down the left exit as Shiro took the right.

Looking forward towards his own hallway, Shiro said, "Be careful."

Ed grinned. "Yeah."

* * *

I wanted to stop this chapter but didn't know where. Hope this is suitable! Enjoy!


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